


A Price Paid Willingly

by Heaerk



Series: DreamSMP lore continuations and theories idk [1]
Category: DreamSMP, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Clay | Dream Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Dreamon, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:34:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29140119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heaerk/pseuds/Heaerk
Summary: Where Dream gets Dreamon into his body in order to be revived because he was murdered in the Town that Went Mad and it follows the storyline of the SMP
Series: DreamSMP lore continuations and theories idk [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138691
Kudos: 71





	A Price Paid Willingly

"Cornelius!" Cattt shouted, terror lacing his voice. His head peered over Cornelius's cold body, his hands shaking as he checked his brother's pulse. Null, there was none, as a crude iron knife had speared through Cornelius's neck.

Cornelius stared at Cattt in confusion, "Cattt! What are you shouting about?"

He then realized that his body was grey- no- he couldn't have died! Cornelius looked down, to see himself sitting inside his own dead body, and Cattt's shaking hands hovering over his neck. There, a knife had impaled him through the neck.

Black blotches overtook Cornelius's vision until... a figure appeared. It wore a mottled green cloak, no, it was the same outfit he always wore, except in place of his face, was darkness. It neared him, then a voice echoed, "Hello."

"Hello?" Cornelius spoke testily.

"Hi! I'm here to offer you a deal," it spoke.

To the point. Two can play a game. "What deal?"

"I can revive you-"

Cornelius cut in, "At what cost?" There was always a cost.

The figure paused, "I'll revive you, make you stronger, but I will... be a part of your mind."

"Who, and what are you?!" He didn't like the cost at all.

"I'm... Dreamon."

\-----

Dream was standing on a dirt pillar, in a deep blue lapiz lazuli altar. Words floated up to him from the two exorcists below him, tugging Dreamon away from his own mind.

"I am one," he repeated, echoing the ritual words nervously, "a soul, a higher power..."

Dream was worried that Dreamon didn't give a fight at all; he didn't even try to control his body to leave the exorcists! Why would Dreamon *want* to separate from his host? 

Dream shrugged it off in his mind- when the ritual was over, Dreamon would be gone, and he'd be free from his worries. He hoped that it would be that simple.

"...I wish for this no more! I will be fixed." With those last few words, Dreamon began to twitch, and their body along with it. Suddenly, in an explosion...

Dream was in the shadow realm again. It was slowly becoming brighter... he tried to move his limbs. He felt them, but he couldn't seem to move them.

He was looking through his own eyes, except... it wasn't him who was controlling his body.

\-----

That was... Fundy? The car, the... ring? He remembered!

Dream used that connection to pull closer... closer, into his body. He could almost feel it! The proposal, the warm crackling fire, the fulfilling meal, the date...

He felt himself rise, for whatever reason, then...

He was in his own body! He grinned, freedom, true freedom, at last!

Dream sprinted back to the exorcists to thank them.

"You are so welcome," Tubbo replied warmly, "Please go be happy."

Dream nodded and waved goodbye, skipping lightly down the Path towards the Community House.

\-----

He was in Dreamon. D-DreamXD. Another body? Did Dreamon form his own body?

Dreamon flew as fast as he could towards the two exorcists; he needed to put a show of being disconnected from Dream's body. At arrival, he didn't stop to get ahold of his breath and punched the two as much as he could before his body would dissipate.

After a few satisfying smacks, he reconnected to Dream's mind. "Miss me?"

Dream jumped, "Whafdjshla?! Fuck- you were gone!"

\-----

His land was in fractures. Shattered. In pieces. He needed to do something to make his friends, the inhabitants of his realm, to unite. He had a dream, and he would achieve it.

One, big, happy family. Was it too much to ask for?

He needed them all to feel the unity of being together, not against each other. And it seemed like there was only one way to do it.

 _Dreamon?_ He called into his mind.

It replied in a strong voice, despite that it was staying in the farthest corners of Dream's mind, "What is it?"

"I... need your help."

"Why would you need my help? You're the most powerful on this server!" it told him.

"I need you to help me be a villain."

"What for?"

He couldn't tell Dreamon why, or else his plan would have no effect, "I just need you to help me be a villain."

It seemed as if it was smiling, "Gladly. Will this include taking control over you from time to time?"

Dream paused, "If necessary, yes."

\-----

Should I step in? Dream asked Dreamon.

_Yes!_

"I-I'll need to step in," Dream said as he moved in front of a smiling Wilbur.

Tommy protested for Wilbur to reconsider, but the madman was truly convinced that, if he couldn't have L'manburg, no one could.

Wilbur would blow up the tnt with not a single care in the world, not for Niki, not for Eret, and especially not for Tubbo.

\-----

_You should let them play._ Dreamon advised his host, who took the advice. 

They watched, invisible, as Technoblade paused, then killed Tubbo, Schlatt, and Quackity all at once. 

They watched as Wilbur scrambled to find the Button he had hidden too well.

They watched as Tommy and Techno fought in a pit.

They watched as the Badlands was created.

His land was splitting, breaking apart.

\-----

Schlatt seemed to dig around his enderchest before taking a book out. "I'll give you this if you fight for Manburg," he told Dream.

Dream's eyes flashed at the familiar book. The Secrets of Life, a book decorated in golden sheaves of leaves and a musky smell of old leather. 

Cornelius's father had handed it to him when he was young, telling him not to open it until he was of sixteen years of age. He had forgotten about it, so it had been laying in the dust of a bookshelf, waiting to be found and taken and read.

"You- who gave that to you?" he almost shouted.

Schlatt replied calmly, unafraid as he dropped the book back into the enderchest, "An old library, far, far away."

"I-I- Alright."

\----

_Let me take control for a bit,_ Dreamon requested.

Suspicious, Dream asked, _Why?_

_You want to become a villain?_

He sighed, _Alright_. Dream slipped back and let Dreamon take the reigns.

It seemed to become easier every time.

Dreamon was heading towards Eret's castle. When Eret noticed Dream's body heading towards his home, he immediately went to his throne.

"What do you think gives you power? Is it your crown? Is it the fact that you're king?" the words slipped out of his mouth. Dreamon looked at Eret's eyes, past the black glasses.

_What are you doing?!_

_Do you want to become the villain?_

Sigh. _Yes._

\-----

"So, Eret, I need you to take your crown off."

\-----

"Me and Wilbur had an agreement," Dreamon told the small crown in front of him.

"What was the agreement?" Quackity asked.

"The agreement me and Wilbur had was that no matter what, literally no matter what happened, he would detonate the tnt."

Chitter chatter.

"And that's why I was fine with surrendering, with doing anything, because in the end, chaos wins."

\-----

"This is... the start, Tommy. It may feel like the end but this is literally just the beginning." Dreamon was looking at Tommy. The three: him, Tommy, and Tubbo, were sitting on the bench, despite that he was the enemy of the duo.

"This is like... the beginning of a new Era," Tubbo commented. 

\-----

He needed to maintain his humanity. To not let Dreamon take over. He had to show a little kindness.

Tubbo and Dream were in the meeting hall. Quackity, Fundy, Tommy, and Ranboo were sitting on the chairs on the side, while Tubbo and Dream sat on opposite sides of the long table.

Dream's vision blurred, then cleared again. He and Tubbo had agreed to give Tommy a probation period. He repeated to himself, he and Tubbo had agreed to give Tommy a probation period. He wouldn't exile the child, no matter how chaotic he was. How much of a problem he was, Dreamon echoed inside him.

They signed the contract.

Then Tommy started laughing. Laughing at him. At Dream.

He pulled out something from am enderchest.

Spirit.

The leather of Dream's dead beloved horse, and one of the only few things that he prized on the server. And Tommy had it.

And what was even worse for Dream? He had nothing on Tommy that he can pull: no discs, no pets, nothing. He couldn't even kill Tommy because they were in the Holy Lands.

After banking the precious leather, Tommy led them to L'manburg.

Then, he suggested to Dream, his voice so full of spite, hate, and victory, that Dream tear down the walls. Else he would burn Spirit.

Dream found Fundy and Quackity laughing at him. They, too, had realized that Dream didn't have power over them anymore; if anything, they had power over Dream!

No. He will not feel shame. He refused to. He will tear down the obsidian wall block by block, if he must, to save Spirit. Keep her safe.

They continued laughing, mocking him, calling him names, ugly, ugly names. At least Tubbo didn't participate.

Dream's vision blurred. Why are they laughing- so loud- so consuming- all he did was to punish the perpetuator. He was enforcing the laws of the SMP; he even agreed to give Tommy a lesser punishment than what he deserved! He had shown kindness, and what did they do to him? They laughed at him! They mocked him! Dream, or was it Dreamon, growled.

It only made them laugh harder. His ears began to hear echoes, filled with their laughter, their insults, their-

"Listen." His tone was deadly, "You fucked up this time."

Tommy laughed awkwardly. Good.

Dream... Dreamon continued, spitting, "I don't give a FUCK about Spirit; I don't give a fuck about ANYTHING actually. I care about your discs. I care more about YOUR discs than YOU do; that's the only thing I care about on the server actually. I don't care about Spirit, Spirit was my horse- he died AGES ago. I care about your discs."

Dreamon informed them that they had but 3 days to exile Tommy, or they'd face his wrath. He'd build the obsidian walls to height limit, hire guards like Sapnap and Punz to patrol the border.

And the last thing he said before he left the frozen L'manburgians?

"L'manburg can be independent, but it can never be free."

Dreamon began building the walls twice as tall.

\-----

"I need you to help me cut off my friends." They wouldn't feel the betrayal as much if they found out what Dreamon was planning.

So Dreamon dethroned George.

As predicted, Sapnap left with George. They went with Quackity.

"Good."

\-----

Dream watched the L'manburgian Council meet on top of the Icecream Shop. They were muttering... no, talking... yelling about the best course of action. Yelling for confidence, that they could fight back against Dream. Fight back against Dream or exile Tommy. They wanted Tubbo to tell Dream no. Tubbo seemed convinced.

 _Just watch. You'd make it worse if you interfered._ Dream didn't interfere.

They met in L'manburg. 

Dream told Tubbo that he trusted that whatever decision he made would be best for L'manburg. It seemed to push Tubbo to make the decision.

If the L'manburgians warred against him, they'd definitely sustain casualties... and Tommy could die. So could Tubbo. They could lose canon lives. Or, Tommy would be exiled, and there wouldn't be any more trouble left for Tubbo to clean up for Tommy.

Tubbo made his choice. "Dream, can you please escort Tommy out?"

Dreamon smiled.

Dream's vision blurred. Tubbo was correct about one thing when he was ranting against his impulsive Council: they were undermining his authority.

Dream smiled inwardly, unable to change his physical expression. Tubbo wasn't Schlatt, like what they accused him of. Tubbo was a good president.

\-----

Everything began to blur. Dream found himself in the same dark space as the one where Dreamon first met him, only seeing winks of ~~himself~~ Dreamon doing unspeakable things...

Dreamon telling Tommy that he was his only friend... 

Exploding his armor... 

Manipulating Tommy... "Dreamon, stop-"

Beginning the construction of the Prison...

Tommy considering death... 

Tommy leaving his Exile Island... 

Finding Tommy at Technoblade's...

Technoblade defending Tommy...

Saving Techno from execution...

Paying Punz 10 diamond blocks...

\-----

Dreamon began building an obsidian wall around New L'manburg as the Second Festival continued...

Showing everyone the Community House... Ranboo blew it up, but no one knew that.

"The discs were worth more than you ever were!"...

Getting the disc...

Dreamon ranting at Tubbo... "Dreamon, no, this isn't-"

Allying with Technoblade...

\-----

Doomsday. Everyone hated him. Good. They were already beginning to unite, but it was futile for them. He had Technoblade, withers, hounds, Philza on his side. It wasn't Dreamon's final plan though. It wasn't Dream's final plan either.

Dream knew exactly how it would fail. He didn't tell Dreamon; it was crucial for Dreamon to not know.

No one saw his point of view. He was the villain, through and through. Dream supposed that it was a good thing, but not really for him. Villains were meant to be defeated, even if they could never die.

If he wanted to, he could take back control from Dreamon. 

Could he? He wasn't really confident in that. Not anymore.

Setting up the redstone...

Turning on the machinations...

Explosions, everywhere. A bit of himself tore as he saw himself destroy his own land. He couldn't stop Dreamon. Not before he realized what it was going to do. Not before it happened.

He should've realized sooner. It wasn't supposed to be this bad.

"Tommy, I'm not done with you. Our story is not over. L'manberg's story is over, but ours is not," Dreamon spoke through him.

Dream blacked out. It faded to a pale grey... he heard voices. Beautiful yet saddened voices.

He began singing along himself, in his mind, _"Well this place is real, you needn't fret! With Wilbur, Tommy, Tubbo, fuck Eret! A very big, and n-"_ he corrected himself to follow the voices' new lyrics, _"a little blown up, L'manburg._

_"My L'manburg... My L'manburg, My L'manburg... My L'manburg~_

\-----

Dreamon seems to be missing more often. Dream wondered what it was up to.

He couldn't leave his home, even when Dreamon wasn't controlling his body. It was too dangerous.

\-----

The Final Battle.

Dream didn't know if this was what he wanted to happen. He definitely didn't know how terrible the mistake he had made, by agreeing that Dreamon could control him. "If necessary," he had told Dreamon.

Dream had struggled against Dreamon. He had seen Wilbur on the spiritual plane twice. It was where he stayed when Dreamon didn't want to show him what he was doing. Most of the times, Dreamon forced him to watch.

They were fighting. Then they weren't. Then they were. Then- oh god- Dreamon- what was Dreamon doing?! He was going farther than what he did in Tommy's Exile! _STOP!_

Dreamon continued despite Dream pushing the mental barriers, threatening Tubbo's life- showing them how powerful he was, how weak they were-

Dreamon was leading them to the base. He was explaining to them the strings to attachment. He was showing them the hallway of attachments. He was explaining how he needed control. How Tommy made people have attachments, and how Dreamon controlled them. How the discs were meaningless to him, but not to Tommy. How he could kill Tubbo, but not Tommy-

Punz! Dream was so glad to see him. He was sure that Dreamon had the exact opposite feelings about Punz's appearance. Behind him came almost the rest of the inhabitants of his land- Sam, Puffy, Ranboo, Sapnap, Jack, Ponk, Bad-

Tommy told Dream to put all of his things into a hole he had just dug in the ground. Dreamon complied reluctantly, under the heavy stares of the entourage. Tommy took the items. The tables had turned. Dream mentally smiled.

Tommy killed Dream using the Axe of Peace.

For a few seconds, Dream felt peace. He laid back, furrowing further into his own mind as he watched Dreamon respawn.

Dreamon was still confident that Tommy wouldn't kill him again. Tommy did, this time with Dream's own Nightmare sword.

The third time, Tommy threatened his own life, forcing Dreamon to come to them again.

Dreamon appeared through the portal, realizing the gravity of the situation- if Tommy killed him a third time, it'd die. Dream would live.

Dreamon begged for his life. Dream smiled mentally.

"Any last words?" Tommy asked.

Dreamon shouted that if he killed him, Wilbur would be gone forever. He spilled that the book Schlatt gave him so he could fight for Manburg was one that told the secrets of resurrection.

Tommy gave Tubbo Nightmare, Dream's bow, then put him in an obsidian box. Dreamon could do nothing.

Sam approached Tommy, offering to put Dream in the Prison. Only Sam and Dream knew it's intricacies, but it was inescapable from the inside and Sam had the only access to it.

And, with the victory, the onlookers shouted with Tommy and Tubbo, "SUCK IT GREEN BOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY". If Dream had an expression, he'd look resigned and happy.

Tommy thanked everyone. He told Dream to tell everyone what he did.

When Dreamon refused to tell them, Tommy said it all. He told them that Dream had blew up the Community House (to Ranboo's shock), and more.

Tommy let them take back their attachments.

Dreamon relinquished control and had retreated into the backs of Dream's mind.

Sam, Sapnap, and Bad led Dream to the Prison, who followed them willfully and silently. Sapnap didn't even look guilty.

\-----

Dream sighed, inside his cell. He sat down on the dark yet warm obsidian floor, contemplating.

"You knew it was going to happen, all along," Dreamon was upset.

Dream answered, "I planned it from the very beginning."

Dream had won, but at the same time, lost.

\-----

Tommy was coming. Finally.

Dream had expected this visit for some time.

Tommy asked Dream how it was, being stuck in prison. He was still spiteful of Dreamon's actions.

Dream told him it was quite nice, rather quietly. He liked to watch the clock. And swim. Dream jumped into the lava, welcoming its warm embrace as it dissolved him and he respawned and dropped into the cell.

Tommy messed with the clock, then took it. Dream yelled his protest, genuinely. Tommy put it back.

He did a poor reenactment of what Dream acted like during his Exile, forcing the fact that he was Dream's friend into his face.

Dream told Tommy his hopes of getting out of the Prison. Maybe if he acted good enough, or enough time passed.

Tommy told Dream that he'd consider forgiving Dream if he wrote 5 novels for him, each at least 15 pages long. Tommy took 5 books from his chest of books, quills and inkpots and assigned topics to each of them: how to get girls. Why he did what he did. Why Tommy is the best. Why Bad is terrible. Why his viewers (especially the younger ones) should drop out of school and do drugs.

He told Dream that he'd visit him on the 24th. Dream told him he'd welcome the company.

Tommy suddenly decided to become Dream's therapist. He asked Dream how he felt.

Dream felt sad. He was honest with himself and Tommy: he'd lost his friends, his stuff, his realm. He had lost it all, for the sake of unity.

Tommy asked him who he missed. Dream couldn't answer- then Dreamon jolted back into him.

Dreamon told Tommy to get in the water hole. Tommy called for the Warden to get him out.

Tommy was gone.

Flash

It was Dream's price to pay. Not Dreamon's. Dream's. And he paid it willingly.

For the unity of the realm,  
he had given up himself.

For the unity of the realm,  
he had shattered himself.

He could only hope that it all wasn't in vain.

THE END.

I hope its not too cheesy lol

**Author's Note:**

> woo 1st ao3 fic woooo
> 
> thanks for reading! comments are welcome- any critique is awesome! i'm surprised at the amount of kudos and hits this fic got, thank you guys so much!


End file.
